Get suited and booted by BMW

By David Neely

With almost 20 of BMW’s new S1000RR super sportsters sold in Northern Ireland since its release only a couple of months ago, there’s now a full set of clothing to match the marque’s special edition colour scheme.

The gear, called Double R, also goes with the boxer-engined HP2 Sport.

The full outfit, from head to toe, costs just over £2,300 and each item is sold separately. The one-piece racing suit, complete with back hump, is made of 1mm thick kangaroo leather and it comes in at £1,475. The helmet is £400, boots £290 and gloves £150.

Incidentally, Alpinestars technical expert told me at a MotoGP a couple of years ago that kangaroo hide of .9mm thickness gives the same protection as a suit made of cow hide of between 1.4mm and 1.6mm.

Interestingly, he said a few of the MotoGP riders still opted for cow hide because it felt ‘more substantial’ than kangaroo hide but the racers who did use it said the weight saving made it much easier to ‘hang off’ their bikes.

Still in a racing theme, Ballymoney Museum has a very good exhibition, which runs to the end of August, about road racing. Obviously it features the local Co Antrim heroes, the Dunlops, etc, but it’s wider than that taking in the Irish sport in general. Admission is free so there’s no excuse not to visit if you’re in the area.

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